#1 Damaging health effects of Subcutaneous Emphysema? Symptoms, causes, treatment

Introduction to Subcutaneous Emphysema

What is Subcutaneous emphysema? Subcutaneous emphysema happens when air gets into tissues under the skin. This typically happens in the skin covering the chest divider or neck yet can likewise happen in different parts of the body.

Subcutaneous Emphysema Causes/Symptoms

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Subcutaneous emphysema can cause swelling of the neck and chest pain, sore throat, neck pain, difficulty swallowing, wheezing, and difficulty breathing.

It is not a curable disease once lung damage has occurred it cannot be reversed.

The goal of treatment is to stop further Lung destruction and preserve lung function. The patient needs to know that the focus is on improving the quality of life and limiting the intrusion of emphysema on daily activities.

Subcutaneous emphysema tends not to be the primary cause of death but can be a contributing factor to another organ failure.

It is a common disease yet every individual needs unique treatment and cares we encourage people with subcutaneous emphysema and their families to learn as much as possible about the latest medical treatment and approaches as well as healthy lifestyle choices.

Treatment of Subcutaneous Emphysema

Just to recap what emphysema is emphysema is a type of lung disease that causes shortness of breath in a person with emphysema the alveoli are damaged.

The alveoli walls, the elastic fibers are damaged and lost so to look at it a simple diagram here are normal alveoli it is not damaged it still contains the alveoli walls alveoli with emphysema.

Subcutaneous Emphysema treatment, On the other hand, are damaged the walls are damaged the elastic fibers are lost and this makes breathing difficult and uncomfortable.

COPD – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

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Now, subcutaneous emphysema is usually not a disease by itself many people with subcutaneous emphysema also have chronic bronchitis a combination of the two lung diseases is commonly called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD.

Lung damage from subcutaneous emphysema and COPD is irreversible the quality of life for a person suffering diminishes as disease progress which is quite sad.

The most important step in preventing subcutaneous emphysema and COPD and slowing down its progression is to quit smoking because smoking is the main cause of subcutaneous emphysema and another important preventative measure is to also not inhale substances.

They may harm the lungs, for example, air pollution for certain fumes there are of course pharmacological treatments available out there that aim in reducing the symptoms associated with emphysema as well as to prevent exacerbations.

One of the main drugs used are bronchodilators the beta 2 agonists these medications widen the Airways allowing the person to breathe better easier because. For example, if we take a cross-section of the bronchial of this individual with emphysema the airways are narrow because the smooth muscles are contracting.

There may be also a lot of mucus being produced here and so if we administer a beta 2 agonist inhaler which is a bronchodilator this will relax the airways, relax the Broncos smooth muscles which will allow the person to breathe easier.

Treatment with Bronchodilators

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Bronchodilators will reduce symptoms and improve lung function glucocorticoid inhalers can also be given to a person with emphysema and this is to treat the exacerbation periods these are painful periods when the symptoms are more severe more prominent.

And so the administration of glucocorticoids which is an anti-inflammatory drug will decrease the pain caused by inflammation which is associated with emphysema.

So, for example, here we have an inflamed lung and if we and if the person takes glucocorticoids the inflammation will subside the number of exacerbation episodes will be reduced oxygen therapy is an important treatment for people with emphysema if they exhibit hypoxemia.

What is Hypoxemia?

Hypoxemia is when you have low oxygen levels in the blood and so if an individual has hypoxemia they require oxygen therapy daily for about 15 hours or more per day.

Oxygen therapy can improve survival rates vaccines are advised to prevent respiratory infections such as pneumonia can exacerbate the symptoms of emphysema.

Also because emphysema is a result of a chaotic immune response in the lungs it is necessary that people with emphysema get regular vaccinations if a person does contract an infection and is suffering from chronic bronchitis.

For example, antibiotics are used to clear up and manage the infection lung volume reduction surgery is used in severe cases typically in COPD.

This is where a non-functioning part of the lung is removed so for example this non-functioning part of the upper lobule removing this non-functioning part of the lung will allow the other parts of the lungs to function better.

Despite being also damaged lung transplantation can and may be performed in end-stage COPD when lungs are damaged and the person is failing at other treatments donor lungs are given.

Rehabilitation programs

However, survival benefits have not been demonstrated in emphysema finally, there are rehabilitation programs that aim to educate people essentially about emphysema as well as improving lung function through certain breathing exercises.

Rehabilitation programs also provide emotional support amongst many other things 

Emergency Response to Subcutaneous Emphysema

Now, one issue we’re going to discuss is subcutaneous emphysema which is basically, the air that enters from the pleural space and it leaks into the subcutaneous tissue or tissue underneath the skin and it causes the tissues of the neck the face and the chest wall to swell.

And the individual’s eyes shut that’s just air that built up around his eye and it’s basically causing it to close and when you palpate these areas that you notice the swelling you’ll feel a crackling sensation also called crepitus and I’ll feel like rice crispies or a bubble wrap underneath the skin.

And you should immediately inform the doctor if you notice this because sometimes the issue is that the tubing location is either too far out from the patient or the suction level may need to be increased so in relation to the tubing.

Pneumothorax – Causes, Symptoms, Treatments

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If the tube itself slides out from the patient’s chest tube site far enough then those little holes in the chest tube are exposed to the atmosphere and the air is going to be rushing right back into the pleural space and it’s gonna cause more pneumothorax and it’s also going to cause the subcutaneous emphysema.

Now it depends on the treatment for this depends on the extent of the subcutaneous emphysema so if it’s too much the doctor may need to use a needle to evacuate some of the air from underneath the skin but usually, they’ll just look at the insertion site they might put the chest tube back in a little bit further and that might increase the suction level.

In-depth ( Subcutaneous Emphysema )

Emphysema is part of a group of diseases that make up COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder now COPD is a name given to diseases in which air exchange is impaired by the note by the narrowing of the lower airways or by the destruction of the alveoli.

Now let’s focus on emphysema is an incurable airway disease of the lungs emphysema is characterized by the destruction of the alveoli its walls and elasticity it is part of a group as I mentioned of diseases that make up COPD.

Understanding the Disease

To understand this disease we must first review the respiratory system to get a better understanding of what this disease is all about the respiratory system consists of anatomical structures involved in ventilation and gas exchange.

The Process Involved

It allows us to breathe oxygen in and exhale carbon dioxide out let’s look at this in a bit more detail so the respiratory tract can be divided into two pots the upper and the lower respiratory tract.

The upper respiratory tract includes the mouth nasal cavity pharynx and larynx the lower respiratory tract includes the trachea which branches out to the bronchi and then to the bronchioles and finally to the alveoli where gas the exchange takes place.

So, what would be happening is that oxygen will travel through this pathway to the alveoli and carbon dioxide will be exhaled from the nose let’s zoom into these normal lungs and look at normal alveoli so the alveoli are found in bundles like so here we have the bronchioles.

The terminal bronchioles which will join the alveoli and alveoli are plural so alveoli are composed of many alveoli there is a rich blood supply around the alveoli because this is where gas exchange takes place between oxygen and carbon dioxide.

So, we have deoxygenated blood entering the alveoli and re-oxygenated blood leaving the alveoli another fundamental point to take in about the alveoli are that the terminal bronchial and each alveolus is wrapped around by elastic fibers.

But why would they be wrapped around by elastic fibers well this is to allow the alveolus to expand when receiving oxygen and then to deflate when exhaling our carbon dioxide out the same for the bronchial so remember oxygen and carbon dioxide is exchanged essentially within the alveoli so if we were to look at it even closer gas exchange occurs between each alveolus and the capillary the blood so oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide in the alveolus.

Also if we cut a cross-section of the terminal branchial of this lung of this normal lung we can see that it does contain a wall. It has a wall, it has some mucous perhaps, and an open airway which is very important because this will allow gas to flow comfortably through okay so now let me know a bit about the structure and function of the normal lungs.

Characteristics of Subcutaneous Emphysema

The terminal bronchial except for a patient with emphysema for example so one of the notable key characteristics of emphysema is the loss of elasticity both in the terminal bronchial and notably on the alveoli.

Also, there is emphysema is abnormal it’s the permanent enlargement of the air spaces with the destruction of the alveoli and also alveoli wall and usually this is without obvious fibrosis so the main reason for the destruction of alveoli and elastic fibers are because the immune cells begin secreting chemicals are known as protease.

And this is all part of the inflammatory response so it’s actually an information an increase in protease results in the destruction of elastic fibers and collagen and this will cause enlargement of the air spaces and destruction of the alveoli and the walls.

So, essentially protease will cause destruction of the alveoli and elastic fibers but again what’s important to understand is that the alveoli itself does not enlarge it is the space that enlarged so this enlargement in airspace volume will cause some serious symptoms of course still have the blood supply and oxygen exchange that will affect there will be affected due to the damage of the alveoli.

And anyway cutting a cross-section of the bronchial with emphysema we see a thicker wall to compensate for an increase in mucus due to inflammation all of which contribute to the narrowing of the Airways.

80% of emphysema death is attributed to smoking

Now the narrowing of the Airways will cause difficulty in breathing in particular will cause shortness of breath and discomfort emphysema is mostly associated with heavy smoking so that is essentially the number one cause there is also actually about 80% of emphysema death is attributed to smoking.

So, there’s no wonder that the number one preventative measure is to stop smoking emphysema is also known to be associated with indoor or outdoor pollution.

Types of Subcutaneous Emphysema

Now there are actually four main types of emphysema before going into each one let’s briefly look at normal alveoli and the terminal bronchial so here are the bronchial and the alveoli which are made up of many alveoli.

1.     Century – Remember the first type of emphysema is known as a century. A century, a cenar, emphysema and this is where we have focal enlargement and destruction of the respiratory bronchioles whereas the distal alveoli are unaffected.

2.     Para cenar emphysema – This involves the enlargement and destruction of all portions of the sinus which is comprised which is basically enlargement and destruction of the bronchioles and the alveoli essentially.

3.     The Para septal emphysema – This is where the bronchioles are unaffected but we have enlargement of air spaces and destruction of the alveoli.

4.     There is the Para tirar emphysema – I hope I pronounced that right or irregular emphysema this is often seen in individuals with inflammatory conditions and is mostly involved in scarring of the tissues so that it is associated with fibrosis.

So, subcutaneous emphysema is not a disease that you can just have the next day, emphysema is a chronic disease occurring over a cause of a course of many years.

Dyspnea is usually the first symptom and can occur even at rest this causes the discomfort of breathing usually slow breathing other symptoms of emphysema include cough and wheezing and weight loss is often seen and if emphysema becomes severe and is left untreated.

Diagnosis of Subcutaneous Emphysema

Respiratory failure and heart failure can result so let’s look at the diagnosis often the individuals can have a sign of a barrel chest which is basically, a protruding chest as well as you can see muscle-wasting, chest x-rays are often used to diagnose emphysema.

But if that does not reveal anything substantial a CT scan maybe required and performed emphysema is usually diagnosed using a pulmonary function test.

And to do this test usually use a machine known as spirometry this the machine here and this machine the sperm entry will essentially measure the expiratory air airflow limitations so what it basically will do is that it will measure how fast and how much the air you breathe out and if it’s low it’s an indication of emphysema.

I hope you enjoyed today’s blog on the study of Subcutaneous Emphysema. Thank you!